Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision)

Starring:Joe Basulto, Joseph Calleia, Ray Collins, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Phil Harvey, Charlton Heston, Billy House, Joi Lansing, Janet Leigh, Victor Millan, Mort Mills, Joanna Cook Moore, Lalo Rios, Michael Sargent, Harry Shannon, Akim Tamiroff, Dennis Weaver, Valentin de Vargas
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Touch of Evil.......2007-06-27

The director's original version is restored for this DVD, to powerful effect. Welles creates a desolate night-time world in the dirty town of Los Robles, a forgotten speck on the map where everyone seems to carry a nasty secret. Lurid, almost surreal atmosphere is complemented by uniformly first-rate performances, with Heston and Leigh never better, Welles himself a bloated symbol of moral decay, and Akim Tamiroff memorably slimy as a local crime boss. Don't miss Marlene Dietrich playing a gypsy- as you might guess, she gets the final word. A cult movie with a capital "C".

Orson Wells.......2007-03-19

well worth seeing. A Wells classic, that just has not aged

Touch of a master........2007-02-28

Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

The American Experience documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane concludes with the observation that after the scandal that erupted over Kane, Orson Welles "never worked on another major Hollywood production." Which is pretty amazing, when you consider how many of Welles' post-Kane movies are acknowledged as classics nowadays. After Kane, Welles plunged himself deep into the world of noir (one wonders what Jung would have to say about that) and continued cranking out fantastic movies. Seventeen years later, Welles made his second-best movie-- Touch of Evil, the very epitome of the things that make noir great.

Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) is a Mexican (yeah, yeah, but suspend your disbelief) narcotics officer who's just gotten married to Susan (Janet Leigh), a Philadelphia socialite. On the eve of their honeymoon, someone plants a bomb in the car of a rich American on the Mexican side of the border, and the bomb explodes on the American side. This brings Vargas into contact with Hank Quinlan (Welles), a corrupt, racist American detective who tries to railroad Manelo Sanchez (Victor Millan, last seen in Scarface), the victim's daughter's boyfriend, by planting evidence at the crime scene. Vargas, meanwhile, is also being pursued by Joe Grandi (Justine's Akim Tamiroff), a crime boss whose brother Vargas arrested. All the threads eventually come together in the most entertaining of ways; the movie's climactic scene has been copied (and parodied) so many times that by now it's a cliché. But remember that it wasn't in 1958; this is as good as it gets.

Orson Welles' directorial prowess was as legendary as his excesses. Rent a Welles movie at random, and you're pretty much guaranteed a good time. Some of his movies, though, deliver more universally than others; Citizen Kane seems to be the favorite of most folks. Mine has always been The Stranger. But Touch of Evil stands with both. This is great stuff, an absolute must for film fans. **** ½

Touch of Evil.......2007-02-27

"Touch of Evil" is the movie that ended Orson Welles' reign in Hollywood, a huge failure at the time of its release. Now, it's considered his 2nd best film (hopefully I don't need to tell you what #1 is). "Touch of Evil" is a slice of film-noir, written and directed by Welles', set in Los Robles, a Mexican-American border town. As the movie opens (in one of the best shots I've ever seen) with an unbroken shot lasting three minutes and twenty seconds, a bomb is placed in a car. The camera follows the car, but stops as we're introduced to a newlywed couple: Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston), a Mexican narcotics official and his wife Susan (Janet Leigh). As they're going through a border checkpoint, the car drives past them and then we hear an off-screen explosion. As the police descend upon the scene like vultures, the tension slowly builds as we wait for Captain Hank Quinlan (Welles). The Welles' we finally see is quite different from the Welles' that once played Charles Foster Kane. The new Welles' is a fat, sweaty man who seems to be standing above the camera in almost every shot he's in. Quinlan comes in and states that the explosion was caused by dynamite, he cites "intuition" as his proof. As Vargas gets involved with the investigation, much to the dismay of Quinlan, Susan is set up at a secluded motel. Meanwhile, a local crime boss named "Uncle Joe" Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) is trying to harm Susan because Vargas is testifying against his brother and harming Vargas directly will get his brother convicted. Meanwhile, we watch as Quinlan investigates the explosion and realize that he has his own agenda. He's a dirty cop, distraught over the unsolved murder of his wife, who has no problem planting evidence to get someone arrested. One of the best scenes in the movie (which seems to reflect a passage from Welles' own life) is when Quinlan, drunk, goes to see a fortune-telling madam (Marlene Dietrich). The scene reads as follows:
Welles-Come on, read my future for me.
Dietrich-You haven't got any.
Welles-Uhh...What do you mean?
Dietrich-Your future is all used up.
"Touch of Evil" is a film that embodies what film-noir is supposed to be. Dark cinematography and low camera angles and there's a lot of that. This DVD is a terrific edition. The story behind the making of "Touch of Evil" is almost as well known as the film itself. After the studio drastically re-edited the film, Welles' wrote a pleading 58-page memo to the studio. Now, all these years later, we see the version that Welles' wanted. The cinematography of this film is an absolute gem. There are a lot of legendary and very well done shots that should rank up there with the best Gregg Toland shots in "Citizen Kane." Touch of Evil is a terrific, underrated film by "The Boy Genius."
GRADE: A-

WIDESCREEN DEBATE.......2007-01-25

I have read reviews on this site suggesting that this dvd release cropped the top and bottom of the original aspect ratio. I have seen the late '90s release of Touch Of Evil in the theater. I remember the top and bottom of the Universal globe was (slightly) chopped off of this theatrical release and looks just like the aspet ratio of this dvd release. I believe this dvd portrays the aspect ratio accurately. Besides, I have never heard of movies in the late 1950's released in the theaters having a "square" or "television" type of aspect ratio like most movies released in the 30's and 40's.

Average customer rating:

the type of movie hollywood should be making........
Interesting twist
Brilliant Independent Filmmaking
great acting and a compelling story
Great Independent Film

Short Side of Nothing
Starring: Brooke 'Mikey' Anderson; Katherine Wendt; Alex Quattlander; Robin McDonald
Director: Phillip Garcia
Manufacturer: touch of evil productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000AKIVJC
Release Date: 2005-07-19

Description

When the subject of a documentary is found murdered, the documentarian shifts the focus of her picture to finding out who is responsible.

Talia is a survivor. Kicked out of the house at fifteen, she's had to do whatever it takes pay her bills and make it through the day. She is far from perfect, but she is steadfastly trying to better herself and regain custody of her son. It is easy to see why documentarian Anna Corrin would be drawn to her as a subject for a movie. Anna films Talia as she moves from working as a prostitute on the streets to getting involved with an Internet porn company, and she slowly moves from being an objective observer to actively being involved in Talia's life. Everything is forever altered when Talia is found murdered. From this point on, Anna changes the focus of her movie to attempting to figure out what happened to her friend and why. She will soon discover that even under the impartial eye of the camera lens, there was a lot to Talia that remained hidden. As Anna gets closer to the truth and it appears that the answers involve high profile and influential people, her life and the life of her crew are in danger.

Customer Reviews:

the type of movie hollywood should be making...............2005-11-04

Kudos to the writer and the director of this movie, for making such a powerful, thought provoking movie. This movie drags you in so many different directions..it is hard not to develop a personal attachment to the characters in this film.

This is a must see movie for any fan of independent film. I really enjoyed this film, the story, the realism...this was a brave movie to make...and a creative genius behind the story...Kudos mr. garcia for making a movie like this. Hopefully someone in hollywood watches this movie, and realizes films like this need to made for the mainstream...not just for the arthouse cinema.

Interesting twist.......2005-08-22

Well I too caught this at a friend's house. It had already been on for about 10 minutes when I started watching. I just kept asking, "Holy Crap, do you guys remember hearing about this?" It will just suck you in.
I just bought my own copy because I want to show it to my friends back home. The end of the movie will blow you away when you realize the twist. Really a great Indie flick.

Brilliant Independent Filmmaking.......2005-08-09

I was captivated by this film. The true story of a young prostitute trying her hardest to reach for a life of which she can only dream- and then she is murdered. This documentary is truly fascinating. What makes it all the more incredible is that it is all fiction- not in the sense that this never happens, but that this story did. The filmmakers did an outstanding job of making a film that is sharp, different and simply brilliant. There is no room in this film for campy one-liners and staged computer effects- this film is intrepid independent filmmaking- the best type of film you can watch. It draws you in with its feel and dialog. The writing was so good, you think it is all ad-libbed documentary. A whole new way to tell a story.
If you do not have this film in your DVD library, you do not like independent film.

great acting and a compelling story.......2005-08-03

I caught this movie at a friend's house. I hadn't ever heard of it and I was a bit shocked by its content. I had absolutely no idea that this was a fictional movie. It seemed so real. The acting is quite amazing. You just get swept up in the story and sucked in to what was going on. There are no bonus materials other than the trailer on the disk and it would have been nice to listen to an audio commentary by the director and some of the actors. It was still a very good movie and not really like anything I've ever seen before.

Great Independent Film.......2005-08-03

I just saw this and was really glad I did. I kept wondering what was real and what wasn't. If you like realism and believable acting, check it out. It's very interesting.